Welcome to Choice Heals

Join us in a Celebration of Life for Laura Rose Misaras, founder of PeerGalaxy.com

Sunday, July 27, 2026, at 5pm PST on Zoom

Link: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/85679253901...

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Sign up for a reminder at ChoiceHeals.com or just show up

For more info contact ann@kasperconnects.com or Jack H.

Laura Rose Misaras brought decades of creative and technical expertise in public and private sectors and was an extraordinary mental health advocate in Oregon. She championed telehealth and created PeerGalaxy.com and the PeerBlast calendar where kindness and connection are as abundant as the stars. Laura Rose called it creating “galactic connections.”

Laura Rose was a driving force within the Oregon Peer Delivered Services Coalition, the Oregon Consumer Survivor Coalition (OCSC), the Oregon Alliance to Prevent Suicide and was chair of the State of Oregon Consumer Advisory Council (OCAC).

She promoted the fact that advocacy is a collective journey sustained by her family, her peer community, visionary partners, co-creators and what she called “a lifespan of teachers young and old.” She led with the conviction that “History is made by those who show up” and she reminded all about the truth that “Supporters need support.”



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How to Vote While Inpatient - Voting is For All, Yes! 
(A Project of Kasper Connects)
The following sites can be used to download registration forms from each state, learn how register and vote while in a hospital. There are videos that can be used in groups to discuss how to vote including rank voting, and messages from leaders including Pat Deegan. The last link from MHANYS is a comprehensive site of how to vote for peers in New York State. * If you have other voting resources to add, please let us know at ann@kasperconnects.com    

Voter Registration Information including Voters Who are in Mental Health Inpatient Settings

Anyone in a psychiatric facility in the United States is allowed to vote. Be aware that each state has different voter registration deadlines. 

1. Voting in Your State (links to downloadable registration forms and information by each state): https://www.nonprofitvote.org/voting-in-your-state/?gad_source=1

2. Vote if you are a hospital patient (information for some states is not complete): https://www.patientvoting.com/

3. League of Women Voters - How to Volunteer to Help Voting: https://www.lwv.org/blog/5-ways-volunteer-voting-rights

4. How to find your government representatives: https://www.lwv.org/take-action/find-your-elected-officials

5. Register to Vote (by State): https://nationalvoterregistrationday.org/get-voteready

6. National Disability Rights Network Voting Info: https://www.ndrn.org/voting/

7. Options for Healthy Voting: https://www.healthyvoting.org

Defending Your Right to Vote
8. State Laws Affecting the Voting Rights of People with Mental Disabilities (Bazelon Center, 2020) https://www.bazelon.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Survey-of-State-Laws-Affecting-Voting-Rights-of-People-with-Disabilities-2020-Update-FINAL.pdf
9. US Department of Justice: https://www.ada.gov/resources/protecting-voter-rights/#federal-laws-protecting-the-right-to-vote
10. American Civil Liberties Union, Voting Information Tool (searchable by state): https://all.votinginfotool.org/
11. Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law:  https://www.bazelon.org/our-work/voting/

Voter Education Subjects
1. The Electoral College, Simplfied https://bipartisanpolicy.org/explainer/the-electoral-college-simplified/
2.  Mental Health America Voting Guide and Resources: https://mhanational.org/sites/default/files/2024-04/MHA-Voter-Guide-2024.pdf
3. Protection and Advocacy for Individuals with Mental Illness (PAIMI) Programs https://www.samhsa.gov/paimi-program

Videos
1. What is Ranked Choice Voting? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Z2fRPRkWvY
2. Raising Our Voices: Voting and Civic Engagement in the Mental Health Community (The Alliance on Rights and Recovery /NY): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=61gu_GGTYGw 
3. Vote Like Your Mental Health Depends on It Youth Election Town Hall https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AOoAnezd6-s&pp=ygUZTWVudGFsIGhlYWx0aCB2b3RpbmcgcGVlcg%3D%3D 
4. Chicago Newsroom 2.0 - Election Stress and Anxiety https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_We2Xr5f6hc&pp=ygUUTWVudGFsIGhlYWx0aCB2b3Rpbmc%3D
5. Voting is My Voice - Pat Deegan https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-PpNMbiLMo4

Specific Programs for Persons with Mental Health Lived Experience in New York State
1. MHANYS Lived Experience Voter Empowerment Project: https://mhanys.org/voter-empowerment-project
2. Democracy Works includes links for registering to vote online, how to vote in different situations and more NY information.
https://voting.democracy.works/en/register/ny.html

New York Voter Registration Dates:
In-person at local election office ,   Online  and By mail (received by) is Saturday, Oct 26, 2024.  





 Thank you to R.W. Manderscheid for several of these links.internal://e65811e8-896a-4bd0-a0c7-18fc0436a958